LAKERS -vs- Warriors - 10/21 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Revving the Engine... Just days before the regular season begins, and the Lakers have seemed like a scattered mess -- puzzle pieces that somehow fit together. Perhaps, the Warriors were just what the doctor ordered. The Lakers pounced for a 120-99 win, revving up the offensive engine for the long journey ahead.

The team is not over its issues by a long shot. Andrew Bynum is still weeks away, and two of the Lakers most iconic figures weren't able to go tonight. Kobe sat out, still being cautious with the knee, and Brian Shaw took over the reins of the team for Phil Jackson.

Although not in attendance because of a flu-like symptoms, Phil has been here before. And by "here" I mean right here in this moment.

In the '90s, the Bulls found themselves in a similar situation getting prepared to take on that sixth championship drive. After a preseason trip to Paris, they were poised to start their run for their second three-peat...except for a few hiccups. The team was without Scottie Pippen who had surgery a few days after camp began, and they would start the season without him for weeks. MJ was considering not playing in the final few preseason games because of a foot injury.

Jordan was struggling with his shot, and Phil might have been talking about Kobe instead of MJ when describing his play, "When he does try to do too much it means that he feels there's a lack of aggressiveness by his teammates," he said at the time. "They don't know what to do or they're floundering. So he picks up the ball and starts carrying it on his own, and right now he's not shooting well enough to do that."

It wasn't where the Bulls wanted to be as a team. Having Kobe out of the action and still not close to being himself is not where the Lakers want to be right now. The silver lining in this might be that the role players are forced to be aggressive.

Steve Blake led the bench with 18 points and 7 assists. Shannon Brown had 13 and Matt Barnes another 10. Behind Pau and some strong bench play, the Lakers shot 56 percent, including 10-17 from three.

The Lakers will have to lean on them to start the regular season as Phil anticipates limiting Kobe's minutes, and Kobe knows staying healthy is the biggest challenge to three-peat.

"That's really the biggest thing," Kobe said. "You want to get an opportunity to defend what's yours."


Gasol -- -- Tonight, it seemed to be Pau's team. The Warriors have been easy marks for the Laker bigmen in recent years. Despite the addition of David Lee, Pau was still able to put up some big numbers in limited minutes. He was working his post game, the drive and hitting jumpers. He must be sniffing the regular season just around the corner. He seemed to be working that lefty jumphook a little more than usual. It's still not quite automatic like it usually is. Good overall offensive effort, however. He got in on a couple of blocks, but while he was denying shots, he wasn't getting much help on the defensive glass in some stretches. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 8-13 shooting (7-7 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 blocks and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He thought about a three, attacked, worked the dribble around the post and finally hit an And-1 jumper, he made the FT. He hit a short fading jumper on the baseline. Quick first step, he attacked to his left across the lane and hit the runner. He missed his baseline lefty jumphook. He missed a lefty jumphook. Third time was the charm as he hit the lefty jumphook on the baseline. He choked a layup off a setup from Luke. He choked an open 7-footer. He spun baseline and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked across the middle and hit the hook. He had 13 points on 5-9 shooting. Second Half: He was hit on a face-up jumper for FTs, he made both. He sank a 16-footer straight away. Great footwork to work his way around his man for a layup in the post. He missed a turnaround at the FT line. He hit the wing jumper off the two-man sequence. He missed a tip. He stepped between defenders on a drop-step and earned FTs. He had 10 points on 3-4 shooting in the third.

Lamar -- -- Lamar tried to be aggressive from the start, but that turned into mostly settling for long jumpers. All too often they were going up early in the shotclock, too. Shaw then pushed Lamar into the post for a few sequences. LO took a shot to the nose on one and bled on the court, the sideline and in the locker room. Somehow he managed to give Luke and Kobe a laugh with his comments while trying to get patched up. Lamar can get his pull-up jumper just about any time he wants it. If he's going to pick up the scoring a bit more, he needs to be more selective with his shots than he was tonight. He still battled on the boards and tried to move the ball well. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 5-16 shooting (1-3 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 12 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 5 turnovers and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He missed a pull-up from the wing. He missed a long step-back jumper in early offense. He swatted VladRad's drive. Bad execution and worse idea trying to thread a needle in a crowd to Sasha, turnover. He missed another pull-up wing jumper. He spiked Lee's shot out of bounds. He missed another long wing jumper in early offense (come on LO don't settle early in the clock). Next time down, he went to the rim and earned FTs on a spin move, he made both. He was called for a carry in transition. He drew FTs when Barnes kept a miss alive under the hoop, he made one. He sealed, took the corner entry over the top of the D and scored the layup. He missed a step-back jumper. He forced a post-entry pass, which was stolen for a layup the other way. Post up, himself, next time down and he scored the short jumphook (more please). He took a shot to the beak while working the post and bled all over the court until he was sidelined. He had 7 points on 2-7 shooting, 5 boards and 4 turnovers. Second Half: He missed an elbow jumper. He was stripped by Biedrins on the perimeter, then compounded the error by giving up an And-1 layup with a weak foul. He came up short on a spinning fade in the lane. He missed a tip. He grabbed a Ron miss, fired it back to him and Ron sank the three. He missed another early offense three, uggh. Another missed jumper a couple possessions later, again early on the shotclock (you're killing me, LO). After a rest, he came back in, saved a loose ball, got it back and swished the corner three. He drew FTs working the two-man with Blake, he made both. He sank the elbow jumper. He posted up, missed, got it back and scored on the other side of the rim.

Artest -- -- Slow first half for Ron, but he picked it up later. Even though his shot wasn't falling, he did a good job of moving the ball or setting up teammates. His three ball is still looking strong. Again, he split some backup PF time with other SFs. The team had all kinds of trouble, though, keeping the Warriors off the glass. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-10 shooting (2-4 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 5 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +17. The Action: Wild pass on the two-man game, turnover. He posted up and kicked out to DFish for a three. He missed a one-dribble, pull-up from the wing. He drew FTs in transition, he made one. He bricked an early offense three. He posted up and fed Barnes for three. Second Half: He bricked while working off the Pau screen at the right wing. He blocked Vlad's jumper. He attacked and kicked to Sasha for a jumper. He hit Pau for the open jumper. He missed a wing jumper, then a three, then finally swished the three in a span of about 30 seconds. He drained a wing three on his next touch. He clunked a dunk. He posted up and drew FTs on iso in the post, he made one. He swished a wing jumper on iso against Lee.

Fisher -- -- Better start to this game than the last one. He wasn't taking early offense shots or forcing things. Defensively, he had some issues with Curry who is a pretty tough cover. Fish tried to crowd him to take away the shot. Unfortunately, that led to some straight lines to the hoop. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-4 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +12. The Action: He backed up, then stepped into a three from the top of the arc to start the Laker scoring. He drew a charge on Ellis on help D. He drained a wing three on a kickout. He attacked strong to his left and powered in a layup. He fumbled away a drive. Curry broke him down badly to create a couple of layups in a row. Fish drew an offensive foul on him next time, getting up into him and drawing attention to a hook. He had 8 points on 3-3 shooting. Second Half: He iso'd against Vlad and missed the short pull-up jumper.

Vujacic -- -- A preseason start after a couple games sitting with a concussion? Whatever. The big news for Sasha was his engagement to Maria Sharapova. It's good to be a Laker. The Mr. Sharapova Era is off to a good start. Sasha looked like money from the perimeter and stayed with Monta Ellis surprisingly well (Ellis had 4 points on 1-7 shooting and was a -22). Shannon has been winning the battle of the SG backups, but nice effort from Sasha tonight. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-5 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and no fouls in 15 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He missed a sideline jumper on a kickout. He sank a pull-up wing jumper in transition next time down. He swished the wing three on a two-for-one sequence. Second Half: He pulled up and hit the 17-footer in transition. He sank a quick-fire wing jumper off the kickout from Ron.

Blake -- -- Superb numbers, 18 and 7, in just 24 efficient minutes. "Sometimes you're on. Sometimes you're off," Blake said. "But most of the time you want to be consistent. That's what I'm working my way towards." He said he has just about shaken the illness that has been dogging him. Farmar had his occasional impact game, but one of the things you rarely saw was the type of passes Blake made tonight. It's a different level of court vision and execution. The 7 assists don't even count the number of times he set up teammates who got fouled. The other nice difference between Blake and our previous backup PG is the in-between game. With Farmar it was often some good three shooting or trying to get all the way to the rim. Blake mixed it up and got the big numbers with only one three and a whole lot of everything else from all points on the floor. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 8-10 shooting (1-2 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 7 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He swished an open wing three. He got tangled up on a screen and gave up a layup to Curry. He held the ball for the last shot, attacked left, stopped on a dime and banked a short jumper from the left side. He missed a baseline jumper. His post entry was swiped as Lamar didn't seal well. He ran the baseline, caught the pass from Lamar and didn't hesitate to hit the fading jumper. He had 7 points on 3-4 shooting. Second Half: He saved a missed dunk by Ron, got it back and missed the quick corner three. He hit Ratliff in the paint for FTs. He scored a layup off the high post handoff. He swished a pull-up wing jumper in transition next time (he's very good at hitting those on the break). He hit Lamar for a corner three. He set up Lamar on the two-man game for FTs. He swished a corner jumper when Shannon spun and kicked out to him at high speed. He scored an And-1 layup on the breakaway off the jumpball, he made the FT. Wow, execellent no-looker on the baseline, past a defender, right to Barnes for the layup. He pushed out, stopped at the elbow and hit the J in transition. His cross-court pass was picked off. He spotted Luke across court for a reverse.

Barnes -- -- His activity and versatility will be a great asset. The Lakers are throwing him in at SF and PF at times. We already have some of the top offensive rebounders in the league, adding his activity to that just means a lot more second opportunities. We do miss our size on the defensive glass right now, for sure. But when that returns this team will be relentless. Defensively, he's got active hands and helps the pressure D look much better. Again, the second unit had some moments flying around the court, especially to start the fourth. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +16. The Action: He got lost on an up-fake and gave up an easy hoop. He kept an offensive board alive and it led to FTs for Lamar. He didn't draw iron on a sideline jumper. He sank a wing three. He sank another on a kickout shortly later. He got tapped on a sideline three. He missed a corner three. He had 6 points on 2-5 shooting. Second Half: He sank a 20-footer on the high pinch post. He forced a backcourt turnover with some pressure. He stripped a bigman trying to drive. He scored a layup off the no-looker from Blake.

Brown -- -- With Kobe out, Shannon led the team in minutes coming off the bench. It definitely seems like he can get to more spots on the floor with that improved handle. The hesitation dribbles, spins and more confident handles that he worked on this offseason will earn him more minutes...especially when he continues to hit the jumper. Phil has stressed the need to get better on the other end. He's right, of course. When it gets down to it, if Shannon can D-up the guards that others can't, that's what will likely matter the most come playoff time. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-11 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 3 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and no fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +12. The Action: He attacked off the three line, pulled up from 16 feet out and swished. He faked one way, went the other and scored a layup on the drive. He missed a fading catch and shoot from the wing. He missed a long jumper from the left side. He grabbed an LO miss, missed a jumper, followed it and scored the putback, bouncing off the floor quickly to get to it. He attacked with the clock low and was blocked. He ball-watched and gave up a putback score. He faked, attacked, elevated and hit the one-hander in the lane. He had 8 points on 4-8 shooting. Second Half: He swiped a pass and ignited the break. He attacked, slammed on the breaks and hit the elbow jumper at the buzzer (he wondered why there was no foul called). He attacked, spun at high speed and kicked out to Blake for the jumper and highlight play of the game. After tying up a man on the floor, he won the jumpball, tipping it ahead to Blake for a breakaway. Great hesitation move, but he couldn't finish the layup. He attacked from the corner and drew FTs at the rim, he made one. He sank the wing jumper off the pinch post. He wasn't looking for a pass from Luke that buzzed over him and out of bounds. Nice hesitation move, but bad idea trying to cram a pass into defenders. He lobbed to Ebanks on the break for the dunk.

Walton -- -- He had 50 tickets for tonight's game. He better get some minutes. He came in for Artest at PF in the first quarter. Tough matchup against Lee, there. With the depth at the 3 spot this year, the ability of some of the team's SFs to play at PF may be what spreads the minutes around more. Instead of Powell as the third string, it looks like Artest, Walton, Barnes and even Ebanks may all get a little action there. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists and 1 turnover in 10 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He hit Blake for the open three. Second Half: He sank the corner three with a soft bounce on the rim. Not close on his fallaway from the post. He reversed around his man after Blake found him cross court.

Ratliff -- -- Some good moments of shotblocking, as usual. Some fouls to go with it while trying to protect the rim. He played 20 minutes. Last year, you felt every one of those on the offensive end when Mbenga was on the floor. The team's rhythm was always off. Ratliff fits in much better despite being equally as foul prone. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 from the line to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 5 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He drew FTs on the interior bounce pass from Blake, he missed both. He blocked dribble penetration. He swatted another shot. Great help rejection, coming out of no where in the last second to stop a hoop (looked like it hit the rim, so no block stat, but he denied the shot).

Ebanks -- -- Asked about the newcomers to the team, Kobe said, "Ebanks has impressed me the most." He added that he knew what the team would get out of the other guys. Ebanks got some run in the fourth quarter at SF/PF small unit spots. He delivered with some quality ball in limited action. Nothing looked "rookie" about his game in those 9 minutes. He hit jumpers on iso, finished an oop and his only miss was on a nice post move, trying to power up. He would later Tweet about that oop from Shannon: "O yea that dunk felt GOOD!! Good pass SB#12!!!" With Luke back in the mix, it will be tricky to get everyone minutes. Ebanks versatility and some of those small ball units may help. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-5 shooting to go with 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block and no fouls in 9 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He did not play. Second Half: He up-faked from the wing, attacked and scored a layup off the glass and over a defender. He iso'd on Vlad and hit the 19-footer from the right wing. He blocked Vlad on iso D. He posted up, overpowered his man, but couldn't finish the layup. He posted up, attacked and hit the fade from 10 feet out. He threw down an oop from Shannon on the break for the Lakers last score (he got up there).

BShaw -- -- The Lakers got off to an 8-0 start forcing a Warrior timeout. This Shaw guy is pretty good. (Shaw got the head coach duties since the Warriors were his scout team)... He brought in Shannon for Sasha midway though the first quarter... A minute later, it was Barnes for Lamar... Up 17-9, Shaw brought in Walton for Artest, who picked up foul trouble... Finally, it was Pau, Walton, Barnes, Brown and Blake with 3:37 left... The Lakers led 30-25 after the first... Shaw started a Ratliff, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake lineup... The Lakers gave up the lead a few minutes into the second quarter. No Pau, Kobe, Bynum and just one of LO/Artest... Shaw brought back in the Pau, Artest, Barnes, Brown, Fisher unit. First time Fish has seen action in this quarter this preseason now that Trey Johnson was cut. He played 14 minutes in the half... The Lakers led 55-52 despite giving up too many offensive boards. The Lakers shot 50 percent (21-42) and gave up 11 offensive boards. The Warriors shot 46 percent (23-50)... Shaw told the team they got too comfortable with their 13-2 lead to start the game, and he reminded them that no lead is very safe against the Warriors... Same sub pattern in the third... Strong close to the third quarter and the Lakers led 86-76 after three... The Ratliff, Ebanks, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit took apart the Warriors, extending to a 21-point lead early in the fourth. Great pressure D lineup... Shaw brought back in Luke at the PF and subbed out Barnes... Some good run for Ebanks in the fourth... The Lakers gave up 21 offensive boards and were out-rebounded by 11... They had 30 assists. Well done...

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB!

FIRST!

Blake, Barnes and Brown were awesome out there together! Nice to see the bench take a close game and turn it into a blowout... in our favor this time!

[Rodman28]

Thanx.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB. Was this on purpose? "He spiked Lee's shot out of bounds."

[MedRomLaker]

Thanks DB!

Anyone know why Caracter didn't get any playing time today? Didn't look like he was bother by back spasms but maybe the staff wanted to play if safe and not have those spasm's come back. Hopefully he'll get some time on Friday.
_________________
11/9/12 the day the brown was flushed down!!!!!!

4/30/14 the day the ant left the building!!!!!!

[circlefong]

Thanks DB !! Always good to see the second unit are developing and getting more teamwork (see the assists from Matt, Shannon & Steve!)

[circlefong]

[wolfpaclaker]

Great to read that Blake had a good game. I know some have already begun to doubt him, but the guy should be a great fit for us.

We really need Bynum back so he can start and then Blake has a real 2nd unit which will have Lamar and probably Gasol or Bynum on it with him. Then you're in business.

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB. Much appreciated - especially when sometimes I don't see the games.

Blake, Barnes, and Brown tallied 41 pts on 18/28 shooting and a +38 collectively. If these 3 could continue to do damage, when LO is added to that mix our bench can make our starters have many many 4th qtr DNP-CDs.

[Rick12322]

Thanks, DB. It's good to get a win even if it is preseason.

I was really impressed with the discipline to Blake's game, on numerous occasions I saw him in the same situations Farmar got into and would usually turn the ball over or take a a rushed shot, Blake handled those situations with control and executed well in the offense.

Ebanks is still looking good, he got a nice block on the perimeter and pumped his fist in excitement. The kid loves to D up. He looked good on offense, too.

[LakersMD]

Man, it's great to see a true point guard out there. Blake just knows how to make the simple, heady pass - the entry pass over the top to LO for the layup, the kick to the corner to LO for 3, the drop off to Ratliff to get the foul, the no-look crosscourt under the basket to Barnes for the layup. Great to watch.

[Lakersneuron]

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[Tanlentueux]

great job. big thanks.

[DancingBarry]

[Crash Override]

That kid Jeremy Lin looks good for an undrafted free agent. Do it Mitch!